"Bitcoin’s energy use got studied.."

The Washington Post / Contributor / Getty Images devourer of worlds Bitcoin’s energy use got studied, and you libertarian nerds look even worse than usual By Eric Holthaus on May 17, 2018 Bitcoin’s energy footprint has more than doubled since Grist first wrote about it six months ago. It’s expected to double again by the end of the year, according to a new peer-reviewed study out Wednesday. And if that happens, bitcoin would be gobbling up 0.5 percent of the world’s electricity, about as much as the Netherlands. That’s a troubling trajectory, especially for a world that should be working overtime to root out energy waste and fight climate change. By late next year, bitcoin could be consuming more electricity than all the world’s solar panels currently produce — about 1.8 percent of global electricity, according to a simple extrapolation of the study’s predictions. That wou...